Accomplices In Robbery, Murder Receive 5 Years Pair Set To Testify Against Suspected Trigger Man

December 05, 1990|By Jackie Powder | Jackie Powder,Staff writer

Two accomplices in a Columbia bank robbery that culminated in the fatal shooting of a Loomis Armored car guard last Jan. 11, were sentenced Monday to five years in prison by Circuit Court Judge Raymond Kane as part of a plea agreement.

Stephen Anthony Brock and Patricia Whitted, were each given a 20-year sentence with 15 years suspended for their roles in the robbery at the Long Reach Village Center.

Brock, 23, and Whitted, 32, pleaded guilty to armed robbery with a deadly and dangerous weapon, and both have agreed to testify as state witnesses against Tyrone M. Colbert, 28. Colbert is charged with fatally shooting Loomis Armored guard Frederick John Cook, 58, of Middle River, as he delivered money to the Signet Bank at the Long Reach Shopping Center.

Police said a masked thief shot Cook twice and then took a bag containing $60,000 from a delivery cart outside the bank.

Cook, a 23-year veteran of Loomis Armored, died two days after the shooting.

Colbert's trial, originally scheduled for Dec. 3, was postponed by Kane until Jan. 28.

Brock, Whitted and Colbert were arrested on Aug. 1 after an informant identified them to county police and FBI investigators as the three who planned and carried out the robbery.

Brock and Whitted confessed to their involvement in the robbery, and on Nov. 28, helped lead police to the .380 semiautomatic handgun used in the murder, said state's attorney Richard O'Connor.

The time the defendants have served at the Howard County Detention Center since their arrest will be credited toward their five-year sentence, Kane ruled.

In December of 1989, Brock, Whitted, and Colbert began plotting to carry out a robbery of an armored truck at the Long Reach branch of Signet Bank, said O'Connor.

The trio agreed that Brock, a Laurel construction worker, would serve as the getaway driver and Whitted would be a lookout in the village center, O'Connor said.

Whitted obtained the gun used in the shooting, said O'Connor, which was kept in Brock's possession prior to the robbery.

Driving a white Chevrolet Spectrum belonging to his girlfriend, Brock dropped Colbert off at the village center and drove to the parking lot of a nearby apartment complex to wait for him, O'Connor said.

Whitted drove to the scene alone and parked on the curb in front of the bank, so Cook had to park behind her. She then went to a bike shop in the village center.

After the shooting, Colbert ran to Brock's car and crouched down behind the passenger seat while Brock drove from the scene, O'Connor said.

Whitted stayed at the village center for a short time and drove home to her Silver Spring apartment.

A Domino's pizza driver witnessed Brock and Colbert driving from the scene and was able to provide police with enough information to do a composite sketch of the suspect, O'Connor said.